Graham Walker

Yorkshire's latest Radio 1 stars The Sherlocks had a muddy great time at Leeds Festival - they drew a crowd of more than 6,000 fans then camped out with them.

The Sheffield indie four piece turned down a five star hotel and proved they are a real band of the people.

After packing out the Festival Republic stage they decided to pitched a tent in one of the muddy camp sites.

Frontan Kiaran Crook, aged 20, revealed: "We played our set then decided to camp through the night. We had an option to go into a five star hotel, with a jacuzzi and everything, but we decided to camp.

"We just love it."

He then joked: "We ended up camping next to the Red Hot Chili Peppers- I could hear Anthony snoring.

"But no, seriously, we love it. We love a bit of mud. We just thought, we might as well have the full festival experience."

Melvin Benn, Reading and Leeds Festival boss, said: "I didn't know The Sherlocks went and pitched up in the camp site. It doesn't surprise me. It's what my kids do. They want to be in the public camp site. Anybody who thinks the VIP area is the place to be, I can tell you it's a bit more boring."

Other Yorkshire bands who played at Leeds over the weekend included Sheffield's The Wired, Liberty Ship, Bang Bang Romeo, Leeds band Dusk, Fighting Caravans, York based Faux Pas and many more.

The Sherlocks, also featuring Kiaran's brother, drummer Brandon, 23, guitarist Josh Davidson, 22, and his brother and bassist Andy, 17, recently played the biggest music festival in the world, SXSW in Austin, Texas.

The Sherlocks played to over 6,000 people then camped out with fans in muddy fields at Leeds Festival.

They also played at Reading Festival at the weekend but said Leeds, their Yorkshire homecoming, was the highlight of their year.

Kiaran added: "Leeds Festival is really important to us. It's given us a chance to pick up new fans. We had a blast. The tent was packed. It exceeded what we thought it would be.We're going on tour next month, starting in Brighton and finishing in Stockton, with a sold out gig in Leeds.

"It would be nice to do the NME/Radio 1 stage next year, I think that's where we are heading."
Brandon added: "We are at home when playing Leeds festival. Now we need to get an album out while we've got momentum behind us."

The Sherlocks, who will record their debut album later this year, begin a 16-date UK headline tour later this week, including a sold out show at The Wardrobe in Leeds, on Tuesday, September 20.